Is Jay Z The Reason Kevin Durant Quit Team USA?

Music mogul Jay Z and his Roc Nation Sports are reportedly the ones responsible for pulling Kevin Durant out of Team USA’s summer basketball tournament to try and help secure a big contract offer.

According to reports, Jay Z’s main worry is to lookout for his Roc Nation clients best interest.

“Team USA is only the latest entity to be left with a sour taste after dealing with Durant and his latest agent. The folks at Nike aren’t exactly happy. The folks at Gatorade already were unhappy. “It’s like Jay-Z is determined to do a scorched earth negotiation with everyone Kevin Durant is currently aligned with, and they aren’t doing him any favors,” one source close to Durant told SheridanHoops on Friday as Team USA prepared for its first exhibition game in preparation for the 2014 World Cup.” (Sheridan Hoops)

Reports also claim that a $30 million contract and Durant needing time away from basketball are the two main reasons for the drop out.

The comments looked at through a Durant lense would lend itself to talks that KD is being courted by Under Armour for more than $30 million per season. But the Durant withdrawal statement from Aug. 7 cites Durant needing “to take a step back and take some time away, both mentally and physically in order to prepare for the upcoming NBA season.” (News OK)